stefania carioli

This study investigates the opportunity to adopt the Think Aloud metacognitive technique to instruct students to become strategic and skilled readers in the online environments. After presenting the historical and theoretical roots of the Think Aloud and the methodological characteristics of this technique, the study proposes an instructional tool that could support late primary and secondary school teachers in planning online reading lessons with the Think Aloud. Finally, the main strengths and weaknesses in the application of this technique to the online reading, and the prospects and future developments of the research in this area are analyzed.

The paper focuses on corporal punishment of children in the home in Italy, adopting a historical, legal, and comparative perspective. Despite international legislation protect- ing children by excluding any form of corporal punishment, in Italy, the law confirms right of parents to correction. With empirical evidence in mind, which suggests that country legislation is one element that affects indirectly parental behaviors, and that legislation an heritage of a country’s history, a historical-critical and comparative analysis becomes central, in order to effectively understand corporal punishment, which con- tinue to be perpetrated to harm of children.

The present study aimed to investigate the value of the teacher Think Aloud (TA) instructional technique in providing young readers with effective strategies to enhance the comprehension of online texts. Eighty-nine participants from 10 to 14 years of age were sorted into two groups based on the type of training they had received: the experimental group (n = 47) had been taught with the TA strategies, while the control group (n = 42) had not received any specific training. Both the experimental and control groups were examined twice, before and after the period of training. Pupils had to find the correct answer to a specific question (Access) and to critically analyze online texts, expressing different opinions on a topic (Analysis). The findings indicate a positive effect of the TA technique, mainly in the transferal of strategies aimed at a more correct evaluation of the websites’ reliability. Indeed, while for the control group only a marginal, if any, improvement was recorded fr...

In the book apps considered in this essay, Alice in Wonderland has been animated and made interactive to offer an audience of young readers a literary masterpiece. I wonder if reading digital texts like this, that maintain the stylistic value of the original texts and that offer a playful insight into narrativity, can help young readers build a positive relationship with the literary classics.

Interest in digital reading has recently increased following release of the report entitled “PISA 2009 Results: Students On Line”. What do we mean by digital reading? How is reading digital media distinct from reading text on paper? What are the implications as far as teaching is concerned? In this paper we start by addressing these questions and then present a project based on the theoretical and operational insights that can be derived from the current state of research. The aim of this project, which is still in the experimental phase, is to foster and assess the development of digital reading skills among pupils attending primary school, a period of time considered critical for developing literacy skills.

È possibile, pur nella rapidità dell'evoluzione delle forme narrative, definire le caratteristiche delle tipologie testuali digitali rivolte ai lettori più giovani? In che modo i testi multimodali che combinano parole, immagini in movimento, musica, voce narrante influenzano la lettura? In quali casi l'apparato ludico dei libri animati e interattivi risulta di sostegno alla comprensione? È ipotizzabile che book apps in cui sia mantenuto il pregio letterario e stilistico dei classici originali contribuiscano ad avvicinare alla letteratura? In questo volume viene proposta una disamina dei molteplici prolungamenti della letteratura per l'infanzia nel mondo digitale con una riflessione sugli inscindibili legami con la pedagogia della lettura. A un esame dei testi basato su un approccio prevalentemente semiotico e intersemiotico è affiancata una ricostruzione degli esiti delle ricerche che hanno indagato opportunità e limiti degli ebook (statici, animati e/o interattivi) nell'imparare a leggere con piacere. L'analisi, rivolta a docenti, ricercatori, studenti, confronta una ricca varietà di fonti e si avvale di un apparato critico incentrato sui più importanti studi internazionali in questo ambito.

The review of “Le metamorfosi della fiaba” underlines the importance of concepts such as meta-history and metamorphism in the study of fairy tales. The collection of essays displays a variety of approaches, which allows the reader to tackle this issue from very different points of view. Particular attention is paid to the re-creation and re-mediation of fairy tales according to different narrative media, from oral story to musical theater, from cinema to picture books. The overall impression given by the book is that the metamorphoses of the fairy tale continue to confirm its significance even today and through a symbolic and figurative language reveals the variety of relationships between human beings in an intuitive and polysemantic way.

Within the influence of Gramsci’s pedagogical model in the work of Gianni Rodari, this article examines the novel Piccoli vagabondi (Small vagabonds) (1952-1953), a unicum in the author’s production of Grammatica della fantasia (The Grammar of Fantasy), as it is characterized by neorealistic themes and by a communicative style that uses “proletarian” rhetoric, progressive vision and utopian elements. After mentioning the national issue of the non-existence of children’s literature (which Gramsci mentions in his essays on popular literature) and the neorealistic traits present in Rodari, the paper enters more directly into the merit of the neorealist novel, which presents itself as a document of the pedagogical effort (even contradictory) made by the Partito Comunista Italiano (Italian Communist Party) in the political climate of the “cold war” and as a testimony to the origin of the author’s search to reconcile realism with fantasy, dream and invention.

Il volume costituisce l’atto fondativo di una proposta di lavoro formativo, didattico, di studio e ricerca che intende valorizzare i saperi storici nell’ambito dell’educazione e delle professionalità educative. I contributi intendono mettere in evidenza l’identità e l’utilità della storia e, in particolare, della storia dell’educazione non solo per tutti i gradi scolastici, ma per la vita stessa delle comunità locali. Allo stesso tempo mirano a proporre un auspicabile sviluppo della storia dell’educazione attraverso l’adozione di un approccio di Public History. In questo modo i saperi accademici possono essere effettivamente messi in contatto con i contesti educativi, molto più di quanto non sia stato fatto finora, in modo da rispondere, insieme a altre discipline, ai bisogni sociali emergenti. La Public History of Education, così intesa, può creare nuove proficue relazioni tra l’educazione formale e quella informale, tra il passato e il presente di educatori e insegnanti, tra il mo...

The essence of reading is changing, and is complicated by the need to know how to read hypertexts online. Such texts require a different way of processing the content, which has gained importance with the boom of information on the Internet and with its recognition as an important medium of communication, entertainment, and information. However, if the immense availability information has, as its possible consequence, raised so much the need to read, it harbours within it the potential of turning people away from a focused reading. The reason for this is that the understanding of the online content is the outcome of investment in research, evaluation, construction and reconstruction of the text, as well as a range of other skills that cannot be taken for granted in the actual reader, who is therefore led astray by her lack of knowledge. Indeed, the teaching of these new skills generates serious doubts in terms of opportunities and modes of action, thus forcing to start again a refle...

This paper presents a reflection on the subject of traditional reading and digital reading, and focuses on the pedagogical implications when moving from print to a digital reading environment. It stresses out the differences between the digital reading of the texts, such as the e-books, and the digital reading on the Internet. Based on the acquisitions coming mainly from the neuroscientific scope, it suggests the complexity of online reading is not favorable to the readers who are at the beginning of their path of literacy. The paper notes that for the novice readers is more appropriate to read both on printed page and on digital content that maintain largely the printing features - such as stability, linearity, the fulfillment of the content. These features attract the full attention of the reader and encourage the development of cognitive processes at the base of a deep reading. These processes must be strengthened expecially at the beginning of the reading learning process. The o...

The purpose of this article is to illustrate questions, initial evidence and hypothesis for action on how to teach reading online hypertexts. Studies dealing with the online reading process and the implications involved in this specific cognitive way of processing the texts suggest that traditional reading strategies are necessary but not sufficient to successfully navigate and make sense of online content, raising important questions on "where and how" to integrate into the curriculum this new dimension of learning. The focus of this paper is, on one hand, on the new skills required by digital age’s readers and, on the other hand, on the studies that combine the issue of learning to read with the interest for the development of critical thinking and the intervention techniques aimed at understanding the online texts which borrow from such studies. On this basis, the last part of the article outlines the main elements to frame a think-aloud model for the instruction of onl...

Within the influence of Gramsci’s pedagogical model in the work of Gianni Rodari, this article examines the novel Piccoli vagabondi (Small vagabonds) (1952-1953), a unicum in the author’s production of Grammatica della fantasia (The Grammar of Fantasy), as it is characterized by neorealistic themes and by a communicative style that uses “proletarian” rhetoric, progressive vision and utopian elements. After mentioning the national issue of the non-existence of children’s literature (which Gramsci mentions in his essays on popular literature) and the neorealistic traits present in Rodari, the paper enters more directly into the merit of the neorealist novel, which presents itself as a document of the pedagogical effort (even contradictory) made by the Partito Comunista Italiano (Italian Communist Party) in the political climate of the “cold war” and as a testimony to the origin of the author’s search to reconcile realism with fantasy, dream and invention.

The paper focuses on corporal punishment of children in the home in Italy, adopting a historical, legal, and comparative perspective. Despite international legislation protect-ing  children  by  excluding  any  form  of  corporal  punishment,  in  Italy,  the  law  confirms  right  of  parents  to  correction.  With  empirical  evidence  in  mind,  which  suggests  that  country  legislation  is  one  element  that  affects  indirectly  parental  behaviors,  and  that  legislation an heritage of a country’s history, a historical-critical and comparative analysis becomes  central,  in  order  to  effectively  understand  corporal  punishment,  which  continue to be perpetrated to harm of children.

Il contributo presenta i lavori della tavola rotonda che si è svolta durante la seconda giornata del convegno internazionale "Le professioni educative e di cura: il contributo dei saperi storici alla consapevolezza e alla conoscenza del proprio lavoro" (2018). È stata un'occasione per ascoltare gli insegnanti referenti degli istituti scolastici che hanno accolto le iniziative formative legate al progetto "Memorie di scuola" (prof. Gianfranco Bandini). Le proposte descritte costituiscono spunti di riflessione sulle potenzialità che percorsi riconducibili alla Public History hanno nella didattica della storia a scuola.

Stefania Carioli, Public History, memorie scolastiche e formazione. Esperienze in Toscana, © 2019 Author(s), CC BY 4.0 International, DOI 10.36253/978-88-5518-009-2.15, in Gianfranco Bandini, Stefano Oliviero (edited by), Public History of Education: riflessioni, testimonianze, esperienze, © 2019 Author(s), content CC BY 4.0 International, metadata CC0 1.0 Universal, published by Firenze University Press (www.fupress.com), ISSN 2704-5919 (online), ISBN 978-88-5518-009-2 (PDF), DOI 10.36253/978-88-5518-009-2

The  present  study  aimed  to  investigate  the  value  of  the  teacher  Think  Aloud  (TA)  instructional technique  in  providing  young  readers  with  effective  strategies  to  enhance  the  comprehension  of  online  texts. Eighty-nine participants from 10 to 14years of agewere sorted into two groups based on the type of training they had received: the experimental group (n = 47) had beentaught with the TA strategies, while the control group (n =  42) hadnot  receivedany  specific  training.  Both the experimental  and  control  groupswere  examined  twice, before and after the period of training. Pupils had to find the correct answer to a specific question (Access)and to critically analyze online texts, expressing different opinions on a topic (Analysis).The findings indicate a positive effect of the TA technique, mainly inthe transferal ofstrategies aimed at a more correct evaluation of the websites’ reliability.Indeed, while for the control group only a marginal, if any, improvement was recorded from pre-test to post-test,  an  outstanding  amelioration  was  observed  in  the  experimental  group  (from  19.1%  to  48.9%)  when requested to evaluate the reliability of a web site.

A partire dalle caratteristiche, anche contraddittorie, con cui il partito comunista italiano espresse il proprio impegno pedagogico nel secondo dopoguerra – tra ri-pensamento dell’eredità gramsciana e travaglio politico nell’Italia marshallizzata – il contributo si focalizza sulla produzione narrativa per l’infanzia d’ispirazione marxista, analizzandone i temi sociali e politici e le caratteristiche stilistico-comunicative (realismo, retorica “proletaria”, carica utopica, visione progressista), fino ad addentrarsi nell’aspro dibattito intorno al fumetto. Vengono infine avanzate riflessioni sull’attualità del modello pedagogico gramsciano nel contesto formativo presente.
Starting from the contradictory characteristics with which the Italian Communist Party expressed its pedagogical commitment after World War II – between rethink-ing the Gramsci's heritage and the political turmoil in a Italy under American influ-ence – this article focuses on the narrative production for children of Marxist inspi-ration linked to Gianni Rodari, analyzing the social and political themes and the sty-listic-communicative characteristics of this narrative production (realism, “prole-tarian” rhetoric, utopian elements, progressive vision) and focusing on the heated debate around the cartoons. Finally, reflections are made on the topicality of the Gramscian pedagogical model in the present educational context.
http://www.spes.cloud/stampa_singoli_capitoli_riviste/rivista2019_2/12. Carioli - C.pdf

In the book apps considered in this essay, Alice in Wonderland has been
animated and made interactive to offer an audience of young readers a literary masterpiece.
I wonder if reading digital texts like this, that maintain the stylistic value of the original texts and that offer a playful insight into narrativity, can help young readers build a positive relationship with the literary classics.

This study investigates the opportunity to adopt the Think Aloud metacog-nitive technique to instruct students to become strategic and skilled readers in the online environments. After presenting the historical and theoretical roots of the Think Aloud and the methodological characteristics of this technique, the study proposes an instructional tool that could support late primary and secondary school teachers in planning online reading lessons with the Think Aloud. Finally, the main strengths and weaknesses in the application of this technique to the online reading, and the prospects and future developments of the research in this area are analyzed.
Nel presente lavoro è indagata l'opportunità di adattare alla lettura negli ambienti online la tecnica metacognitiva del Think Aloud, modello di istruzione già rivelatosi efficace nella comprensione del testo stampato. Dopo aver accennato alle radici storiche e teoriche, e descritto le caratteristiche metodologiche del Think Aloud come strumento di ricerca e come tecnica per modellare la comprensione del testo, vengono presentati percorsi gui-da per l'applicazione di questa tecnica alla lettura online. Nella parte finale, tenuto conto di una pur modesta base conoscitiva, sono illustrati i principa-li punti di forza e i limiti nell'applicazione di questa tecnica alla lettura on-line, nonché le prospettive e gli sviluppi futuri della ricerca in questo ambito.

The essence of reading is changing, and is complicated by the need to know how to read hypertexts online. Such texts require a different way of processing the content, which has gained importance with the boom of information on the Internet and with its recognition as an important medium of communication, entertainment, and information. However, if the immense availability information has, as its possible consequence, raised so much the need to read, it harbours within it the potential of turning people away from a focused reading. The reason for this is that the understanding of the online content is the outcome of investment in research, evaluation, construction and reconstruction of the text, as well as a range of other skills that cannot be taken for granted in the actual reader, who is therefore led astray by her lack of knowledge. Indeed, the teaching of these new skills generates serious doubts in terms of opportunities and modes of action, thus forcing to start again a refle...

This paper presents a reflection on the subject of traditional reading and digital reading, and focuses on the pedagogical implications when moving from print to a digital reading environment. It stresses out the differences between the digital reading of the texts, such as the e-books, and the digital reading on the Internet. Based on the acquisitions coming mainly from the neuroscientific scope, it suggests the complexity of online reading is not favorable to the readers who are at the beginning of their path of literacy. The paper notes that for the novice read- ers is more appropriate to read both on printed page and on digital content that maintain largely the printing features - such as stability, linearity, the fulfillment of the content. These features attract the full attention of the reader and encour-age the development of cognitive processes at the base of a deep reading. These processes must be strengthened expecially at the beginning of the reading learning process.
The online reading can be addressed later, using metacognitive techniques and self-regulated strategies that accustom the reader to stop on a text and to monitor his/her comprehension, to resist a superficial reading, and to engage the research for a deeper meaning.
The article emphasizes the importance of integrating the two forms of reading and to promote the best of both literacies.

The purpose of this article is to illustrate questions, initial evidence and hypothesis for action on how to teach reading online hypertexts. Studies dealing with the online reading process and the implications involved in this specific cognitive way of processing the texts suggest that traditional reading strategies are necessary but not sufficient to successfully navigate and make sense of online content, raising important questions on "where and how" to integrate into the curriculum this new dimension of learning. The focus of this paper is, on one hand, on the new skills required by digital age’s readers and, on the other hand, on the studies that combine the issue of learning to read with the interest for the development of critical thinking and the intervention techniques aimed at understanding the online texts which borrow from such studies. On this basis, the last part of the article outlines the main elements to frame a think-aloud model for the instruction of online reading.
Keywords
Online reading, new literacies, think-aloud

The essence of reading is changing, and is complicated by the need to know
how to read hypertexts online. Such texts require a different way of processing
the content, which has gained importance with the boom of information
on the Internet and with its recognition as an important medium of communication,
entertainment, and information. However, if the immense availability
information has, as its possible consequence, raised so much the need to
read, it harbours within it the potential of turning people away from a focused
reading. The reason for this is that the understanding of the online
content is the outcome of investment in research, evaluation, construction
and reconstruction of the text, as well as a range of other skills that cannot be
taken for granted in the actual reader, who is therefore led astray by her lack
of knowledge. Indeed, the teaching of these new skills generates serious
doubts in terms of opportunities and modes of action, thus forcing to start
again a reflection on the delicate role of those who have to alphabetize when
new socio-cultural scenarios emerge. Whether and how could the school
take action in a field that is to-date abandoned to informal practices? Some
studies suggest the opportunity to move towards techniques able to promote
the processes of “self-regulation”, which are essential in the understanding
of hypertext found online (and not only there). However, there are still too
few studies on strategies for the reading and comprehension of non-linear
texts; moreover, empirical data are not enough to enable an assessment of
the effectiveness of these instructional techniques.

L’essenza della lettura sta cambiando, resa più complessa dal saper leggere
ipertesti online. Si tratta di un modo diverso di elaborare i contenuti, richiesto
dalle tipologie testuali presenti in rete, che ha acquisito rilevanza con l’esplosione
informativa su internet e con il suo riconoscimento come media di comunicazione,
intrattenimento, informazione. Ma se l’immensa disponibilità informativa
ha, come possibile conseguenza, quella di far lievitare la necessità di
leggere, essa ha in sé anche la potenzialità di distogliere dall’impegno di una
lettura concentrata, poiché la comprensione del contenuto online è esito di un
rilevante investimento nella ricerca, valutazione, costruzione e ricomposizione
del testo, e di un ventaglio di altre competenze che non possono essere date
per scontate. L’insegnamento di queste nuove skill pone, anzi, seri dubbi in termini
di opportunità e di modalità di intervento, risollevando la riflessione sul
delicato ruolo di chi deve alfabetizzare alla luce dei nuovi scenari socio-culturali.
Se e come può la scuola agire su un ambito che, ad oggi, è lasciato all’informale?
Alcuni studi suggeriscono l’opportunità di orientarsi verso tecniche di
promozione dei processi di “autoregolazione”, essenziali nella comprensione
degli ipertesti online (e non solo). Sono ancora poche, però, le ricerche sulle strategie di comprensione dei testi digitali non lineari usati e non possediamo
sufficienti dati empirici sull’efficacia di tali tecniche di istruzione.
KEYWORDS
Literacy, Reading Literacy, Online Reading, Think Aloud.
Literacy, Reading Literacy, Lettura Online, Think Aloud.

Interest in digital reading has recently increased following release of the report entitled “PISA 2009 Results: Students On
Line”. What do we mean by digital reading? How is reading digital media distinct from reading text on paper? What are the
implications as far as teaching is concerned?
In this paper we start by addressing these questions and then present a project based on the theoretical and operational insights
that can be derived from the current state of research. The aim of this project, which is still in the experimental phase, is to foster
and assess the development of digital reading skills among pupils attending primary school, a period of time considered critical for
developing literacy skills.
KEY-WORDS Digital Reading, Assessment, Primary School.



Sommario La digital reading è balzata al centro dell’attenzione in particolare a seguito del recente rapporto PISA 2009, Results:
Students on line. Cosa si intende con questa espressione? In cosa si distingue la lettura digitale da quella di un testo cartaceo?
Quali le implicazioni per l’insegnamento?
Partendo dalle risposte a tali interrogativi e dalle indicazioni teorico-operative che è possibile trarre dallo stato attuale della
ricerca, viene presentato un progetto in fase di sperimentazione finalizzato allo sviluppo e alla valutazione delle competenze di
lettura digitale rivolto ad alunni della scuola primaria, un arco di tempo al quale, sul piano dell’alfabetizzazione, è assegnato un
ruolo fondamentale.
PAROLE CHIAVE Digital Reading, Valutazione, Scuola primaria.